A boutonniere or a corsage? That point provided some levity today amid a serious debate in the Senate on a civil-unions bill.

The measure is sponsored by Sen. Pat Steadman, who took his oath of office on the same day as Sen. Mike Johnston. Both Denver Democrats had been elected by vacancy committees and were sworn into office in May 2009.

Johnston talked about how he and his wife, Courtney, and Steadman and his partner, Dave Misner, hugged in the back of the Senate chambers before the swearing-in.

From Johnston: Sen. Steadman actually brought me a corsage. Score one for the stereotype that heterosexual men are less thoughtful. I had not thought to bring a corsage.

From Steadman: Sen. Johnson, I have to confess that I may be reinforcing a stereotype at this point when I say perhaps it was a boutonniere that was pinned to your suit jacket.

For the record, a boutonniere is a flower or small bouquet worn, usually by a man, in the buttonhole of a lapel. A corsage is small bouquet of flowers worn, by a woman, at the shoulder or waist or on the wrist.

That part of the conversation got a huge laugh, but the rest of their remarks brought some gay-rights activists to tears.

From Johnston: We both put on our corsages and we both stood on opposite sides of the podium. … You and I were not the same on that first day because we stood next to a bank of laws that continued to say that we take the same oath … but were ultimately not the same people.

From Steadman: Everything you said was so true and so painful to listen to. We both were duly elected to this body. We both took an oath to uphold the same constitution and fulfill the same duties and, yet, for one of us Colorado law is a little better right now than for the other. And we’re no different.